The meeting
focussed on widespread torture, the large number of
disappearances, abuses against migrants and refugees,
attacks on journalists and human rights defenders, and
violence faced by women and indigenous persons.

“While
Mexico is an increasingly important actor on the world
stage, not only in economic terms but in the field of human
rights, it is failing to deliver at home. I told the
President that he must demonstrate he is serious about
ensuring human rights not just internationally but for all
inside the country as well,” said Salil Shetty.

“The
President has the power to address Mexico’s worrying human
rights situation. He should take urgent and concrete steps
to ensure full respect for human rights for every individual
in the country.”

The Secretary General recognised that
President Peña Nieto’s new Administration had put in
place several mechanisms and processes to tackle human
rights violations, although implementation and enforcement
have been weak. He also acknowledged that the Mexican
Government had been very open to receiving international
human rights monitors from the UN and Amnesty
International.

At the same time, Salil Shetty expressed
concern that a year after the government recognized that
more than 26,000 people had been reported missing or
disappeared in the previous six years, the government has
still to clarify how many victims of abduction and enforced
disappearance are still to be located.

“I visited
Saltillo and met relatives of victims of disappearance and
abduction from different states. I told the President it is
clear that the authorities are still not taking all the
actions needed to locate their loved ones or bring to
justice those responsible,” said Salil Shetty.

In 2013
the UN Human Rights Council made a series of recommendations
to Mexico to improve its human rights record. In March,
President Enrique Peña Nieto’s government will make a
formal announcement on which measures it will adopt. Amnesty
International expects it to adopt and implement all
recommendations that that are consistent with international
human rights standards.

Amnesty International is calling
for the President to:

• Make a clear public statement of
his administration’s commitment to uphold human rights and
fulfil his promise to address grave human rights
challenges;

• Guarantee the effective search for victims
of disappearance and bring perpetrators to justice,
including where public officials are implicated in enforced
disappearances;

• Ensure comprehensive measures to
guarantee the safety of human rights defenders and
journalists at risk and hold to account those responsible
for attacks and threats;

• Ensure the human rights of
irregular migrants, preventing all forms of violence. All
abuses against migrants must be fully investigated and
perpetrators held to account.

During his visit to Mexico,
the Secretary General also visited Coahuila state, met
migrants, relatives of disappearred and the governor of the
state. Amnesty International highlighted the failure of
state authorities to fulfil their obligations to relatives
of disappeared and called for a clear and transparent
commitment to locate the victims and hold those responsible
to account.

In Mexico City, the Secretary General met
other victims of human rights violations, journalists and a
wide range of civil society organizations. He also met with
the Minister for Interior, the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
the Federal Attorney General, the President of the Supreme
Court, the Human Rights Committees of the Senate and
Congress and the media.

Egyptian jets bombed Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday, a day after the group there released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians, drawing Cairo directly into the conflict across its border. More>>

Ambassadors representing two countries under attack from ISIL, Bashar Ja’afari (right) of Syria, and Mohamed Ali Alhakim of Iraq, speak to journalists following the adoption of a Security Council resolution targeting sources of financing for ... More>>

Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the popular committee in the village of Bil’in where Kayla joined the protests, told ISM: “Kayla came to Palestine to stand in solidarity with us. She marched with us and faced the military that occupies our ... More>>

3 February 2015 – Parents in the United States must vaccinate their children against measles in order to maintain the high levels of immunity necessary in keeping outbreaks of the aggressively contagious virus small and contained, the United Nations World ... More>>

3 February 2015 – For the second time in as many days, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Security Council have jointly condemned the brutal killing of a civilian by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – this time deploring ... More>>